The present invention relates to a device for the filling of filling yarn bobbins on the shuttles of a traveling wave loom or shaft shed weaving machine which comprises continuously rotating a conveying chain to move shuttles having empty bobbins thereon from the outlet edge to the inlet edge of the fabric during the weaving process, the shuttles being guided between slide rails with each bobbin on the shuttle provided with a small toothed wheel that meshes with a large toothed wheel member to bring about the rotation of the bobbin for winding thereon a filling yarn supplied.
In shaft shed weaving machines, wherein as is known a plurality of shuttles are successively and uniformly distributed over the entire fabric width and are conveyed at continuous speed through the shed and are then transported back empty from the outlet edge to the inlet edge of the fabric, the filling of the filling yarn bobbins on the shuttles represents a considerable problem.
For example, a shaft shed weaving machine of the above type is known wherein the toothed member for rotating the filling yarn bobbins of the shuttles is a rack which extends approximately over the entire machine width, parallel to which the winding members from which the filling yarns are removed are moved at the running speed of the shuttles in order to fill the shuttle bobbins during this parallel movement (DOS 2,207,248).
The object of this construction is to supply as many shuttle bobbins as possible with an adequate length of filling yarn during one rotation.
This problem is solved with another known construction of a shaft shed weaving machine in that the shuttles rotate on the circumference of transporting wheels whereby the latter carry the reserve winding members (Australian Pat. No. 240,564).
However, both these constructions have the disadvantage of requiring a great deal of space, quite apart from the technical expenditure required in concomitantly moving the large mass of the reserve winding members. A further disadvantage is that the length of the filling yarn which can be wound onto the bobbin of each shuttle can scarcely be varied which excludes any change to the fabric width.